Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  Where was his address delivered? In §§ 12-17 he traces the ancestry of his hearers to Athens via Euboea. His account sounds a bit fanciful and the twofold migration from Athens is not found elsewhere in Greek tradition, so that it is impossible to identify with certainty the people to whom he is speaking. However, Strabo (5.246) reports that, after the original settlement of Naples by citizens of Cumae, additional settlers later came from Athens. Furthermore, a Neapolitan coin of about the middle of the fifth century B.C. depicts Pallas wearing an olive crown, and at some time or other the name Phaleron came to be associated with Naples. Finally, the complimentary remarks regarding the city in which the address was being delivered seem to fit Naples better than any other likely possibility. It might seem surprising, however, that the Naples of the first century of our era should still cherish the memory of Athenian contributions to its parent stock. Possibly our Discourse was addressed to a select group of Neapolitans, who, however unintelligently, strove to keep alive traditions of ancient days.

  [1] Τὰ γιγνόμενα παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς τὴν τύχην ἐγκλήματα μέγιστα ἂν ἔγωγε θείην ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἐγκώμια. τὰς γοῦν ἀδήλους τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολὰς εἰς ταύτην ἀναφέρουσι, καὶ οἷς ἀπὸ γνώμης ἐπιχειρήσαντες διήμαρτον, τούτων ἀφῃρῆσθαι νομίζουσιν ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης, ὡς πάντα περιποιεῖν, εἰ θελήσαι, δυναμένης. ἀκούσαις δ̓ ἂν αἰτιωμένων αὐτὴν καὶ γεωργῶν καὶ ἐμπόρων καὶ πλουσίων ἐπὶ τοῖς χρήμασι καὶ καλῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς σώμασι καὶ Πανθείας ἐπὶ τῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ Κροίσου ἐπὶ τῷ παιδὶ καὶ Ἀστυάγους ἡττηθέντος καὶ Πολυκράτους ἑαλωκότος. καὶ Πέρσαι δὲ ἐμέμφοντο τὴν τύχην μετὰ τὴν Κύρου σφαγὴν καὶ Μακεδόνες μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου [p. 148]

  The Sixty-fourth Discourse: On Fortune (II)

  The charges which men lay to the account of Fortune I would consider to be highest encomia in her favour. For example, the inscrutable vicissitudes in their affairs they ascribe to her, and whenever they unwisely set their hands to certain projects and meet with failure they imagine they have been robbed of their purposes by her, since, in their opinion, she could do any and every thing if she only would. Again, you may hear farmers, shippers, and men of wealth blaming her for their loss of money, dandies for their persons, Pantheia for her husband, Croesus for his son, Astyages for his defeat, and Polycrates for his capture. Moreover, the Persians blamed Fortune after the slaying of Cyrus, as did the Macedonians after Alexander’s death.

  [2] τελευτήν. ἤδη δέ τινα καὶ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν τῇ τύχῃ προφέρουσιν, ἡ Μήδεια τὸν ἔρωτα, ὁ Μίδας τὴν εὐχήν, ἡ Φαίδρα τὴν διαβολήν, ὁ Ἀλκμαίων, ὅτι ἐπλανᾶτο, ὁ Ὀρέστης, ὅτι ἐμαίνετο. ἐρῶ δὲ ὑμῖν τινα καὶ Κύπριον λόγον, εἰ βούλεσθε. ἤνεγκεν ὁ παλαιὸς βίος καὶ ἐνδόξους γυναῖκας, Ῥοδογούνην πολεμικήν, Σεμίραμιν βασιλικήν, Σαπφὼ μουσικήν, Τιμάνδραν καλήν: οὕτω καὶ ἐν Κύπρῳ Δημώνασσα ἐγένετο, πολιτική τε ὁμοῦ γυνὴ

  [2] Furthermore, men even reproach Fortune for some of their own emotional weaknesses — Medea for her passion, Midas for his prayer, Phaedra for her false accusation, Alcmaeon for his wandering, Orestes for his madness. But I will tell you also a certain Cyprian tale if you wish. The days of old produced women of distinction as well as men — Rhodogunê the warrior, Semiramis the queen, Sappho the poetess, Timandra the beauty; just so Cyprus too had its Demonassa, a woman gifted in both statesmanship and law-giving.

  [3] καὶ νομοθετική. τρεῖς ἔθηκεν αὕτη τοῖς Κυπρίοις νόμους: τὴν μοιχευθεῖσαν κειραμένην πορνεύεσθαι: θυγάτηρ αὐτῆς ἐμοιχεύθη καὶ τὴν κόμην ἀπεκείρατο κατὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ ἐπορνεύετο. τὸν αὑτὸν ἀποκτείναντα ἄταφον ῥίπτεσθαι: δεύτερος οὗτος Δημωνάσσης νόμος: τρίτος ὥστε μὴ ἀποκτεῖναι βοῦν ἀρότριον. δυοῖν δὲ αὐτῇ παίδων ἀρρένων ὄντων, ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ βοῦν ἀποκτεῖναι

  [3] She gave the people of Cyprus the following three laws: a woman guilty of adultery shall have her hair cut off and be a harlot — her daughter became an adulteress, had her hair cut off according to the law, and practised harlotry; whoever commits suicide shall be cast out without a burial — this was the second law of Demonassa; third, a law forbidding the slaughter of a plough-ox. Of the two sons which she had, the one met his death for having slain an ox, while the other, who slew himself, she refrained from burying.

  [4] ἀπέθανε: τὸν δὲ αὑτὸν ἀποκτείναντα οὐκ ἔθαψεν. ἡ δὲ τέως μὲν ἐκαρτέρει καὶ ἄπαις οὖσα καὶ νομοθετοῦσα, ἰδοῦσα δὲ βοῦν ἐπὶ μόσχῳ ἀπολλυμένῳ μυκωμένην καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἐν ἄλλῳ συμφορὰν γνωρίσασα, τήξασα χαλκὸν εἰς αὐτὸν ἥλατο. καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ πύργος ἀρχαῖος ἀνδριάντα χάλκεον ἔχων, χαλκῷ ἐντετηκότα καὶ πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν τοῦ ἱδρύματος καὶ πρὸς μίμημα τοῦ διηγήματος: ἐπιγραφὴ δὲ ἐπί τινος στήλης πλησίον, σοφὴ μὲν ἤμην, ἀλλὰ πάντ̓ οὐκ εὐτυχής.

  [4] Now for a time she not only bore with fortitude the loss of her children but also persevered in her regulations; but having observed a cow lowing in sorrow over a calf which was dying, and having recognized her own misfortune in the case of another, Demonassa melted bronze and leaped into the molten mass. And there used to be at that place an ancient tower holding a bronze image, an image embedded in bronze, both in order to insure the stability of the statue and also as a representation of the story; and near-by on a tablet there was an inscription:

  Wise was I, yet in everything ill-starred.

  [5] φέρε οὖν μὴ ἐρήμην ἡ τύχη ἁλισκέσθω μηδὲ φοβώμεθα τὸν τῶν κατηγορούντων θόρυβον. ἴσως γὰρ ἄν τι ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸ εἰπεῖν εὖ καὶ αὐτὴ συλλάβοι. δοκοῦσιν οἱ τεχνῖται πρῶτον τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς κατασκευῆς τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῆς δεδηλωκέναι. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἕστηκεν ἑτοίμη πρὸς τὰ ἔργα, εἶτα τῇ μὲν δεξιᾷ χειρὶ πηδάλιον κατέχει, καί, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, ναυτίλλεται. τί δὲ ἄρα τοῦτο ἦν; πότερον [p. 149] ὡς μάλιστα τῶν πλεόντων τῆς τύχης δεομένων, ἢ διότι τὸν βίον ἡμῶν ὥς τινα μεγάλην ναῦν κυβερνᾷ καὶ πάντας σῴζει τοὺς ἐμπλέοντας; Ἀσσυρίους μέχρι τῆς Σαρδαναπάλλου τρυφῆς, Μήδους μέχρι τῆς Κύρου τροφῆς, Πέρσας μέχρι τῆς διαβάσεως, Ἀθηναίους μέχρι τῆς ἁλώσεως, Κροῖσον μέχρι Σόλωνος;

  [5] Well then, let not Fortune be condemned unheard, and let us not fear the clamour of those who accuse her. For perhaps even she herself might aid us somewhat in speaking well of her. In the first place, the artists are believed to have revealed her power by the way they have equipped her. For, to begin with, she stands ready for her tasks; secondly, in her right hand she h
olds a rudder and, as one might say, she is sailing a ship. But why, then was this? Was it in the belief that sailors more than others need Fortune, or was it because she steers our lives like some great ship and preserves all on board — the Assyrians until the wanton luxury of Sardanapalus; the Medes until the rearing of Cyrus; the Persians until they crossed the sea; the Athenians until their capture; Croesus until the visit of Solon?

  [6] ἦν Οἰδίπους τὸ πρῶτον εὐτυχὴς ἀνήρ. ἡ τύχη γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸ μηδὲν παθεῖν παραποιησαμένη τὸ ἀγνοεῖν ἔδωκεν, ὅπερ ὅμοιον ἦν τῷ μὴ παθεῖν. εἶτα ἅμα τῆς εὐτυχίας ἐπαύσατο καὶ τοῦ γιγνώσκειν ἤρξατο. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου πήρωσιν εὐτυχίαν καλῶ. Τέλλος μὲν γὰρ βλεπέτω τοὺς παῖδας καὶ Κυδίππη καὶ Αἰόλος καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος ἦν πατὴρ εὐτυχής: Οἰδίπους δὲ ἐκ τῆς πηρώσεως ἀναβλέψας αἰσχρὰ κερδανεῖ θεάματα.

  [6] At first a fortunate man was Oedipus.

  Yes, for Fortune, trying to provide freedom from suffering, granted him ignorance, which was tantamount to freedom from suffering. Then at one and the same time he reached the end of his good fortune and began to understand. For my part I call even his blindness good fortune. For let Tellus behold his children, and Cydippê, and Aeolus, and whoever else may have been fortunate as a parent; yet by his blindness Oedipus

  Will gain escape from shameful sights.

  [7] τῇ δὲ ἑτέρᾳ τῶν χειρῶν ἡ θεὸς καρποὺς ἑτοίμους κατέχει συνειλεγμένους, μηνύουσα τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἅπερ αὐτὴ δίδωσιν. τοῦτο ἦν ἄρα καὶ χρυσοῦν γένος καὶ νῆσοι μακάρων τινές, αὐτομάτας ἔχουσαι τροφάς, καὶ Ἡρακλέους κέρας καὶ Κυκλώπων βίος. ὅτι τοῖς πονήσασι τὸν βίον ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς χειρὸς δεδήλωκεν, ὡς αὐτομάτη λοιπὸν ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀφθονία παραγίγνεται. Τάνταλος δὲ ἄρα ἐπὶ γήρως ἀργὸς ἦν: διὰ τοῦτο ἄρα μέχρι τῶν χειλῶν ηὐδαιμόνει καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μόνον ηὐτύχει: τὰ πάντα δὲ ἐκεῖνα ἁρπασθέντα οἴχεται καὶ λίμνη καὶ καρποὶ καὶ τροφὴ καὶ ποτὸν ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης, οὕτω γ̓ ὡς ὑπὸ πνεύματος.

  [7] And, to resume, in her other hand the goddess holds fruits plucked and ready for use, indicating the multitude of good things she herself provides — this, you see, would be both Golden Age and Isles of the Blest, as it were, with foods for the taking, and Horn of Heracles, and life of the Cyclopes all in one, since to those who have toiled for their living an abundance of good things comes thereafter spontaneously. But Tantalus, you know, was idle in old age; on that account, therefore, he was prosperous only as far as his lips, fortunate only with his eyes, while all those things he longed for — lake, fruits, food, and drink — vanished, snatched away by Fortune as by a blast of wind.

  [8] ὠνόμασται δὲ ἡ τύχη καὶ πολλοῖς τισιν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ὀνόμασι, τὸ μὲν ἴσον αὐτῆς νέμεσις, τὸ δὲ ἄδηλον ἐλπίς, τὸ δὲ ἀναγκαῖον μοῖρα, τὸ δὲ δίκαιον θέμις, πολυώνυμός τις ὡς ἀληθῶς θεὸς καὶ πολύτροπος. ταύτῃ ἐπέθεσαν καὶ γεωργοὶ Δήμητρος [p. 150] ὄνομα καὶ ποιμένες Πανὸς καὶ ναῦται Λευκοθέας καὶ κυβερνῆται Διοσκόρων. ῥεῖα δ̓ ἀρίζηλον μινύθει καὶ ἄδηλον ἀέξει, ῥεῖα δέ τ̓ ἰθύνει σκολιὸν καὶ ἀγήνορα κάρφει.

  [8] Again, Fortune has been given many names among men. Her impartiality has been named Nemesis or Retributive Justice; her obscurity, Elpis or Hope; her inevitability, Moira or Fate; her righteousness, Themis or Law — truly a deity of many names and many ways. Farmers have given her the name Demeter; shepherds Pan; sailors Leucothea, pilots Dioscuri.

  With ease the eminent he curbs, the meek

  Exalts, makes straight the crooked, blasts the proud.

  [9] τοῦτο ἄρα ἦν ὁ Ζεύς, ἡ τύχη κατέχων μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς τὸ ὅπλον, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς τὸ σκῆπτρον, ὅτι τοῖς πολεμικοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ βασιλείαν δίδωσιν. εἶτα Εὐριπίδης τὸν ναύτην μέμφεται ,ἀωρὶ πόντου κύματ̓ εὐρέος περῶντα:᾿ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς ἐπιτιμᾷ λέγων ὅτι ,σμικραῖς

  [9] This refers, of course, to Zeus, holding in his right hand his weapon and in his left his sceptre, for the reason that to martial men he gives kingship too.

  Furthermore, Euripides censures the sailor

  Untimely seeking to cross the broad sea’s waves;

  he also utters reproof in the following, when he says

  To slender hopes do they entrust themselves.

  [10] ἐπιτρέπουσιν αὑτοὺς ἐλπίσιν.᾿ ὦ παῖ Μνησαρχίδου, ποιητὴς μὲν ἦσθα, σοφὸς δὲ οὐδαμῶς. οὔτε γὰρ πίττῃ τὴν ψυχὴν οὔτε σχοινίοις ἐπιτρέπουσιν οὔτε τριδάκτυλον αὐτοὺς σῴζει ξύλον πεύκινον, ἀλλ̓ ἐπέτρεψαν βεβαίῳ καὶ μεγάλῳ πράγματι τῇ τύχῃ. ἀσθενὲς μὲν πλοῦτος, ἂν τύχη μὴ παρῇ, ἀβέβαιον δὲ φιλία, μὴ συλλαμβανούσης τύχης. αὕτη σῴζει καὶ τὸν νοσοῦντα ἐν τῷ τέλει καὶ τὸν νηχόμενον ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ καὶ τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονα ἐπὶ τῶν χιλίων

  [10] O son of Mnesarchides, you were a poet, to be sure, yet not at all wise! For they entrust this lives to neither pitch nor ropes, nor is it a two-inch plank of pine that keeps them safe; nay, they entrust them to a sure and mighty thing, Fortune. A weak thing is wealth unless accompanied by Fortune; an uncertain thing is friendship unless Fortune bears a hand. She preserves alike the sick man in his extremity, the swimmer amidst the waves, Agamemnon sailing with his thousand ships, and Odysseus drifting on his raft.

  [11] νεῶν καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα ἐπὶ τῆς σχεδίας φερόμενον. τί δέδοικας, ὦ δειλέ; τὸ μῆκος τῆς θαλάττης φοβῇ; ὄψεται μέν σε ὁ Ποσειδῶν καὶ παρακαλέσει τοὺς ἀνέμους καὶ τὴν τρίαιναν λήψεται καὶ πάσας ὀροθυνεῖ τὰς ἀέλλας, οὐκ ἀποκτενεῖ δὲ σέ. ἡ τύχη γὰρ οὐ βούλεται. οὕτως νῦν κακὰ πολλὰ παθὼν ἀλόω κατὰ πόντον, εἰσόκεν ἀνθρώποισι διοτρεφέεσσι μιγείης.

  [11] What dost thou fear, thou craven? Dost fear the vastness of the sea? Poseidon, indeed, will spy thee, summon his winds, seize his trident, and stir up all the blasts; yet he will not slay thee, for Fortune wills it not.

  Thus do thou wander now upon the deep,

  With many an evil mischance, till the day

  When thou dost meet with men beloved of Zeus.

  An utterance of a god vanquished by Fortune!

  [12] θεοῦ λόγος ὑπὸ τύχης νενικημένου. αὕτη καὶ τὸ τῶν ὑμετέρων προγόνων ἦν ἀρχαῖον γένος, τῶν αὐτοχθόνων καὶ πρώτων Ἀθηναίων, μητέρα μὲν τὴν γῆν αὐχοῦντας, τροφὸν δὲ τὴν Δήμητρα, ἐπώνυμον δὲ καὶ σύμμαχον τὴν Ἀθ
ηνᾶν, τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον τῶν Ἀθηνῶν εἰς Εὔβοιαν ἐξήγαγεν: ὡς δ̓ ἐκεῖ μένοντας αὐτοὺς οὔτε [p. 151] ἡ θάλασσα τέρπειν οὔτε ἡ γῆ τρέφειν ἐδύνατο, καὶ οὐδὲ τὸ αἰσχρὸν ἔφερον τοῦ πράγματος, ἀντ̓ ἠπειρωτῶν νησιῶται γενόμενοι, δεύτερον

  [12] What is more, the ancient stock of your ancestors, those autochthonous and earliest Athenians who boasted the soil as mother, Demeter as nurse, and Athena as namesake and ally, Fortune first led forth from Athens to Euboea; but since if they remained there the sea could not please them nor the land support, and since also they could not endure the disgrace of what had happened, their having turned islanders instead of occupants of the mainland, Fortune made a second and better plan.

  [13] ἡ τύχη κρεῖσσον ἐβουλεύσατο. σεμνὴ μὲν γὰρ Εὔβοια ὡς ἀληθῶς: ἀλλὰ τίς ὑμῶν φέρειν ἠδύνατο γῆν τραχεῖαν κατοικῶν καὶ θαλάσσῃ στενῇ παροικῶν καὶ πολλὰς ἀνεχόμενος τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολάς, τῶν ἐν τῷ ῥεύματι γιγνομένων πλείονας; νῦν Βοιωτοὺς ἔδει φέρειν καὶ τὴν Θηβαίων ἀναισθησίαν, εἶτα Ἀθηναίους, οὐκέτι ὡς παισὶν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ̓ ὡς δούλοις χρωμένους. διὰ τοῦτο ἀγαγοῦσα ἐνθάδε ἵδρυσε, τῇ ἑτέρᾳ μὲν τῶν χειρῶν μηχανωμένη τε τὸν πλοῦν καὶ κατιθύνουσα, τῇ δὲ τοὺς καρποὺς ἀφθόνως διδοῦσά τε καὶ δωρουμένη. τὴν μὲν οὖν τῶν λοιπῶν γνώμην εἰκάσαι